Drilling of the Brown County Water Improvement District’s test well will begin early next week as the district continues to work to find an alternative water source for its customers.
In a special called meeting of the BCWID Board of Directors Friday, an increase of $37,250 to the $700,300 contracted price from Stewart Brothers Drilling of New Mexico for the well was approved. The original contract, approved at a previous special meeting on June 6th, called for a 14-inch diameter casing of 60 feet ; however further information has been gathered and worries of water pressure up to 500 pounds per square inch (psi) could be encountered when the drilling hits the Ellenberger Aquifer.
A design and specification change was approved to increase the amount of the casing to 125 feet, causing a $37,250 difference in the cost to construct the well. The increase in the amount of casing will help ensure that the surface structure (formation around the well shaft) is not damaged by the pressure that may be encountered, according to DB Stephens Senior Vice President Texas Water Resources Stefan Schuster, P.G.
Water District General Manager Dennis Spinks stated that there were oil and gas wells in the area which encountered 480 psi when they hit the Ellenberger Aquifer. Because of this, caution is being taken to ensure the well does not leak or “blow out.”
Spinks stated that Johnny King, a local driller, had hit 475 pounds at the well head of a well he drilled near Ten Mile Crossing. Additional local drillers also agreed that deep drilling could encounter such high pressure.
Schuster pointed out that the well would have to be plugged and abandoned if the surface structure was damaged in drilling. With the added casing and a blow-off preventer cemented in place, the well would withstand the expected amount of pressure. Schuster stated that just 200 pounds of pressure would blow liquid such as water 60 feet into the air.
Because of the concerns, Bob Gray of DB Stephens who has overseen the drilling of many deep wells in New Mexico will supervise the project according to Spinks and Schuster.
“With the margin of error so slight, we want the best people on the job,” said Schuster.
Spinks explained, “At $700,000 per shot, you don’t have many chances. It’s a gamble, $700,000 put down on the chance of finding water. Like Las Vegas gamblers, we feel the probability is high enough to find out.”
BCWID Director Dennis Graham confirmed with Schuster that the well would be good for almost anything all the way down, the way the well is designed. With two or three residences within 200-300 yards of the drilling site, which is located a quarter of a mile south of the original Hot Wells location in Brownwood, safety is first priority.
Spinks and Schuster stated that there aren’t very many deep wells like this in Texas. In fact, this well is a sort of science project according to Schuster.
“This is not just a run of the mill well, it is a unique deep well,” explained Schuster. “Not much information is available in drilling deep wells in Texas, some of the oil well information is considered proprietary due to the private money invested.”
Schuster stated that the project is very unusual in that most water wells in Texas are much less than 1000 feet and the test well is expected to reach 3600 feet.
“The Ellenberger is an aquifer that’s not classified or quantified. This is a courageous political act to take on this type of project,” said Schuster.
He explained that this well faces unknowns that could affect the ability to efficiently treat the water such as hot water that is difficult to treat, a high dissolved solids content, heavy metals or radionuclides (which are expected to be treatable amounts).
“This is a pretty amazing project. We are basically doing a science project to make a decision,” said Schuster. “It’s a uniquely deep well that may create a future path for the state that is not traditionally done; it’s somewhat visionary and unique. It’s a bitter political discussion whether to wait for rain or to drill.”
The test well will be drilled through the Ellenberger Aquifer and down into the Hickory Sands Aquifer with testing of each to determine if either could supply an adequate quantity of water to the district’s customers and if the quality of any found water could be treated for household use at a reasonable price. The amount of water needed is approximately 5 million gallons per day according to Spinks.
Schuster stated that with Lake Brownwood continuing to decline, this project is “absolutely worth the gamble, there is no other alternative.” He stated the quantity of water available is unknown, but that the aquifer could potentially hold a “multidecadal supply” that would last beyond any of our lives if the water is found to be treatable at a reasonable cost.”
The drilling rig is currently on its way to Brownwood from a location in Utah and should arrive this weekend according to Spinks. Drilling could start as early as Monday or Tuesday.
After testing of the water from the well is complete, the BCWID board will have to make a decision based on the data to determine if it justifies drilling production wells in the same area as a new source of water for their customers.
